Signal apparatus



Nov. 24, 1925. 1,562,835

L. W. KUTTLER SIGNAL APPARATUS Filed June l5, 1923 if Ill l IIIIIHII MilliIlllllnlllllllIl! fm C? lmrumwlnufmmnrmlur means to so warn drivers. I `ing slmple and inexpensive'of structure, re-

. cation.

Patented Nov.A 2 4, 1925i UNITED STATES PATENT Lo FICE.

LEONARD W. KUTTLER, F `ETJ'CILID, OHIO.

SIGNAL APPARATUS..

VApplication led .Tune 15, 1823. Serial No. 645,521.

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, LEONARD W. KUTTLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Euclid, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Signal Apparatus, of which the following is a specitrians, of the danger there and to warn these 4 the point of danger.` l

'Ihe present invention aims to provlde a Such means beydrivers some time before they actually reach quire practicalily neither repairs nor attention, and require no resident source of light.

'Meansto accomplish this aim are shown in the accompanylng drawing; such showing, however, is not to be construed as ,being a limitation to the present invention, but is intended asan illustration thereof.

Some modiiications are shown in the drawing, others appear during the description of the` matter shown in the drawing, and others are pointed out i'n this specification, 'andstill others can be made within the scope of the appendedf claims.

In .the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a.

general perspective view of a signal ap,u

lparatus designed for out of 'door use and embodying the features of fthe present invention; Fig. 2 is a section, taken on a' vertical planeindicatedby the line`2-2 iniFig. 1, showing the' general relation between the elements; Fig.'8 is asection, taken on a hori- 1, showing the relation between the housing and the signal member and also showing prisms, or corrugations, or 'furrows, or other one` form of signalmember and a certain surface thereon; Fig. 4.- is a section, similar to Fig. 3, showing another form of signal member and another form of 'surface thereon; Fig. 5 is 'a section, similar to Fig. '3, showin still another forni of signal memvber an anothergform' fof surfaceJ thereon;

Fig. 6 isa front'view `cfa si al member showing another manner `o arranging 'to signal apparatus uneven surface formation thereon; Fig. 7 is a front View of a signal member showing still another manner of arrangin the'uneven surface thereon; Fig. 8 is a ont view of a signal member showing still another manner of arranging the uneven surface thereon. y

Similar 'reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the views.

The apparatus shown in Figs. l and 2 is composed of the housing A, the legs B, the hood C, and the'signal member D.

The housing A is, in this instance, made ofsheet metal with the front edges of the two side walls 10 and 111 flanged to form the grooves 13 and 14, respectively. The bottom 12 of the housing A needs no groove in the present instance.

The legs B are provided with the seats 16 upon which the housing rests, and .with the flanges 17 which are secured to the rear wall- 18 of the housing by spot welding or other# wise, and with the feet 19 adapted to be embedded in the ground, or in cement,'or to be v secured to -a suitable support, and with the tie members toV stii'en the structure as a whole. i v

The hood C extends over the top of the housing and is, in-the present instance, secured to the rear wall 18 lthereof b the bolts 20. The front end 21 ofthis ho projects forward beyondthehousing A and the sides 22 and 23 project sidewise beyond the sidejwalls -10 and 1.1 to exclude snow and rain from the interior of the housing when this apparatus is setup in the open air.

The signal member D is, in the present instance, made 4of glass and may be colored red',`

or other color, or be left inthe original color of the glass. Other material, transparent or opaque adapted to or adaptable to collect and're ect lightrays 'from an outside source, l may be used for the member D. zontal plane indicated by the line 3-3 in Fig.

This member D is provided with the iiang'es 24 and 2 5 in all `of the structures shown in the drawing and'these flanges 'fit loosely into the grooves 13 and 14 respective-- ly. The bottom of the member D-, conveniently, rests on the bottom 12 of the housing.`

The s ace between the back of the member D and t e rear wall 18'may, conveniently, be lled with felt or other shock absorbing material 26. This manner of mounting the .member D, i. e., loosely confined. in the on the bottom 12.

grooves 13 and 142 resti without being'rig'idly he dthereon, no conrattling, and the hood over the housing, constitutes an ideal 'mounting fora glass signal member in a. signal apparatus intended for out of'door use where it is subject to .the elements of nature. For indoor use, where the natural elements have no bearing on the apparatus, cr when the signal member is made of'material which is not affected by the natural elements, the above detailed precautions need not be exercised although the signal member should not be confined rigidly lto permit expansion anc'l'contraction thereof during tem erature changes and thereby prevent p`oss1ble damage to the outer surface, or the mlrror coating, or both.

The member D is, preferably, provided with an uneven surface, such unevenness may be produced by prisms, furrows, corrugations, or other means suitable for the purpose at hand. although this surface may be made substantially even particularly so when the member D has the property of a mirror or is. otherwise coated on the back thereof.

Irrespective of the formation of this outer surfaee'of the member D, the body thereof may be formed flat as seen in Fig. l, or concave as seen in Fig. 4, or convex as seen in Fig. 5, or acombina-tion of concave and conveX as seen in Fig. 3, or of other contour or combination of contours.` It is preferred that any curvature or other irregular formationof the member D isdirected in a horizontal plane as seen in the drawing since such feature provides a larger range for the applaratus illustrated in the drawing.

l of the signal members D shown in the drawing are provided with an uneven outer surface and all of these outer'surfaces', eX- ceptthat shown in Fig. 3, have the well defined prisms 27 which are, preferably, inclined to this outer surface as( shown although they may be arranged perpendicular thereto, It is also preferred that some' of 'these inclined prisms are inclined -in one dithe corrugations 28 which serve a rection while others are inclined in a different direction. It is also preferred that the inclination of the prisms described is ar- .ranged so that thepeaks of at least the better reflection facilities for the member D shown. .e

ln Fig. 3 the prisms 27 are substituted by purpose similar to the prisms 27.

These prisms, or corrugations, or furrows,

or whatever other means is employed to produce theune'ven outer surface, maybe made straight as shown by the'straight vertical prisms shown in. Fig. 1,- or may be made straight horizontally or diagonally, or

curved as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, and may be parallel with each other as shown in Figs. l and 6 and 8, or not parallel with each other-as shown in Fig. 7. The prisms 27, or other forms of outer surface may be divided to form rows of individual prisms 29 as shown in Fig. 8.

This apparatus requires no resident source of light. 4lNhen however, light rays from an outside source reach the signal member D, these light rays are collected and intensified on the signal member and are reflected therefrom as a signal light.

Modifications other than those shown and described and pointed out may be made. Therefore, without limiting myself to the precise construction shown and described,

1. A signal apparatus including, a frame, a signal member supported in said frame, prisms on said signal member to collect light ra s from an outside source and to reflect t e same as a signal, the peaks of some of said prisms inclined in one direction and the peaks of others of said prisms inclined toward the first mentioned peaks to increase the reflection of the light rays from the outside source. p f

2. A signal apparatus including, a frame, a signal'member supported in said frame, a neutral plane on said signal member, prisms on saidsignal member adjacent to said neutral plane to collect light rays from an outside source and to reflect the same as a signal, certain of said prisms inclined toward said neutral plane and certain of said a curved signa member supported on said.

frame, a neutral plane-on sald signal member near the extreme point of curvature thereof, prisms on said signal member adjiacent to said neutral plane, to collect li ht rays from an outside source and to re ect the same as a signal, and the peaks of at least a majority of said prisms inclined toward. said neutral plane to increase the relection of the light rays from the outside source.

- 4. A slgnal apparatus including, a housing, .a curved signal member having the side p edges thereof loosely confined in said housing, the bottom edge yof said signal member resting on said housing, the top edge of said signal member free, resilient packing means between saidsignal member and the back of said housing to prevent `rattling-of said sig-- nal member, a neutral plane on said .signal member, prisms onY` said slgnal member ad`- jacent to said neutral plane to collect li ht rays from an outside source and to re ect` the samelas a signal, the pea-ks of atleast a majority, of said prisms inclined toward said neutral plane, and a hood secured to said housingand extending over and above said housing and said signal member and forward and sidewise .thereof beyond the limits of said prisms to Aprotect said packing means and the reflecting surface of said signal member.

5. A signal apparatus, including, a housing open at .the to and provided with two opposltely dispose vertical grooves, a signa member confined loosely in said grooves horizontally and resting on said apparatus vertically without being confined at .the

top 'to permit expansion and contraction thereofand rovided with prisms adapted to collect liglit rays. from a source outside of said apparatus and to reflect these collected rays to and from each other to show a signal on said signal member, resilient packing means between said sifmal member and said housing to prevent rattling but permit expansion and contraction of said signal member, and a hood secured t0 said housing and extending over said open top and projecting forward beyond said signal member.

LEONARD W. KUTTLER. 

